Hellfire, Hanging, and Humiliation: Book Curses through Book History
For as long as the written word has existed, so has the desire to protect it. One means by which people have tried to defend their precious texts is through the inscription of book curses: short, maledictory writings that warn the would-be thief, the forgetful borrower, or the malicious eraser with bodily, spiritual, or social damage. This talk will introduce some of the most ferocious and humorous book curses ever inscribed, from fearsome threats discovered emblazoned on stone monuments from the ancient Near East, to elaborate manuscript maledictions, and chilling warnings scribbled in printed books. Baker will discuss her experience hunting these book curses and reflect on how these entertaining writings offer a tantalising insight into literacy, book-ownership, and people’s attitude towards their material texts. This talk is based on Baker’s book, Book Curses (Bodleian Publishing, 2024).
Speaker Bio:
Eleanor Baker is the English Subject Lead for the University of Oxford’s Astrophoria Foundation Year and teaches medieval literature at various colleges across the university. Her doctoral thesis examined the perception of material texts in Middle English literature, and how these material objects were understood as at once practical and fantastical. Chapters of this thesis have been published in Studies in Philology and Recipes and Book Culture in England, 1350-1600 (ed. Hannah Ryley and Carrie Griffin). Eleanor’s research interests include the book culture of late medieval England, twentieth-century medievalism, and folk horror in medieval literature. Her first trade-press anthology, Book Curses, was published in 2024 by Bodleian Publishing.
Curated & Hosted by:
Marguerite Johnson is a cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean, specialising in sexuality and gender, particularly in the poetry of Sappho, Catullus, and Ovid, as well as magical traditions in Greece, Rome, and the Near East. She also researches Classical Reception Studies, with a regular focus on Australia. In addition to ancient world studies, Marguerite is interested in sexual histories in modernity as well as magic in the west more broadly, especially the practices and art of Australian witch, Rosaleen Norton. She is Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History at The University of Queensland, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She lives in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesvos.
Image: Master of the Échevinage of Rouen, Monk (Hermit) Praying for the Dead Man and Struggle for his Soul between Saint Michael and the Devil, about 1470, Rouen, miniature taken from a manuscript breviary, McGill University Library. c.1470. Public Domain.
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